Psycho-social Aspects of Visual Impairment

Historical Perspectives on the Differences between Blind and Sighted Persons  It is impossible to expect that the blind child, who under the most favorable conditions starts with a very meager social and perceptual world, can ever redeem his loss. While the seeing child is developing in relation to his expanding social world and stimulating objective environment, the blind child also is growing in relation to his environment. However, his is not the same expanding social situation or the same stimulating objective environment. It must not be thought that the blind child lacks social relationships and stimulation, for he does not. His growth is of just as positive a nature as that of the others, but it is vastly different, for it draws its relationship from a greater degree from the stimulations that self can give. Thomas Cutsforth—The Blind in School and Society, pp

The Loss of Vision DOES make a difference... Vision loss tends to exacerbate other personality traits. If a person is introverted and unassertive by nature, the tendency toward dependency will be greater. Likewise, if a person is overly assertive and strong willed, he or she may have a difficult time with adaptations and even safety concerns.

Is there really a “psychology of the blind?”

If our students fail to learn to establish social relationships...  The alternatives may include:  Unemployment  Isolation  Social expense  Development of self stimulatory behaviors

Common attitudes toward persons with visual impairments  Pity  “It’s better to be dead than blind.”  Fear of becoming visually impaired themselves  Guilt feelings  Discomfort in the presence of someone who has a visual impairment.

Negative Psycho-social Characteristics Which Were Traditionally Attributed to Persons with Visual Impairment  Unable to be productive.  Incompetent to manage their own affairs.  At risk for self injury.  Inferior.  Socially under developed.

 Should be educated and eventually cared for in an institutional setting.

Unrealistic Perceptions of the Capabilities and Psycho-social Characteristics of Persons with Visual Impairments  Heightened sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others.  Increased tendency toward gentleness and understanding.  Increased patience.

Beliefs in Superhuman Capabilities of Persons with Visual Impairments  Music  Hearing Once, after I got three obscene phone calls in one evening from some jerk, I got a little nervous when it dawned on me he was opening the phone book not only to my name and phone number, but also to my address. Wondering what the chances were he might try to look me up in person, I called the police department for some comfort. I told the dispatcher I feared I’d be somewhat at a disadvantage if my phoning friend suddenly materialized on my doorstep. The dispatcher assured me, none too reassuringly, mind you, that “ you people hear better than the rest of us, so you could hear him coming a long way off, couldn’t you?” Wagner, S. How Do You Kiss a Blind Girl? P.80

Three factors which determine how people view themselves:  Aspirations -- dreams  Self-expectation – what you honestly believe you can do  Expectations of significant others  What if they are too high or too low?  All of these factors are based on or related to the development of self-concept.

Two Conflicting Views of the Impact of Visual Impairment  Losing one’s vision is a disaster which affects the very essence of life, making the person inherently different from the rest of society.  The visual impairment itself has NO impact on the individual’s psychological and sociological development. It is only the negative attitudes of society toward the blind that creates negative responses and behavior patterns.

Most Common Contentions  Social immaturity  Social isolation  Encouragement toward dependence  Feelings of inadequacy  Problems with self concept

Self-concept is based on  Feelings of competence  Feelings of self-acceptance  Assertiveness  Personal integrity  Perceiving oneself as having a purposeful and productive life  Self-evaluation

Role of significant others  Subtly expressed attitudes are clearly understood, especially by children.  Overprotection

Overprotection is disastrous because:  It leads to a feeling of vulnerability.  It implies incompetence.  It isolates the child from peers.  It isolates the child from the environment.  It engenders the “martyr” syndrome (i. e. the caregiver resents the person and the person feels more and more worthless and guilty.).

Adventitious Onset  The greater the degree of impairment, the more psycho-social impact.  The grief process is typically longer and more acute.  There are other social pressures (e. g. dating, vocational concerns, academic concerns) which exacerbate the problem.

You go on thinking of the person as he or she was years ago, makes time less real. You have a sense of not having traveled on in your relationships. There is conflict between the timeless, fixated image of not traveling on, and (on the other hand) the sharpened sense of distance, that one is traveling on, further and further, all the time. This conflict helps me to understand the strange poignancy and confusion which I feel in the presence of loved people whom once I saw but now no longer see. J. Hull, Touching the Rock, 1990, p. 142.

Congenital Onset  Extended social immaturity.  Adjustment and the grief process tends to happen at significant life change points.

Mercer’s Stages of Psycho-social Development  Infancy – passivity and lack of bonding  Toddler  Increased exploration and possibility of the development of independence.  If the child is overprotected, then the foundation for self-isolation is laid.

 Preschool  Usually initial introduction to a consistent group of peers.  This is a critical period, because the foundation of a child’s expectation of him or herself is laid.  Elementary  At best, viewed as a class “mascot.”  Middle School  Isolation from peer group typically grows.  Begins to be perceived as more of an academic “problem” for teachers.

 High School presents some of the most difficult problems because:  Inability to drive  Dating  Insecurity about the future  All of the other things that sighted teenagers face.

How do you teach social skills?  Assess  TSBVI – Independent Living  Oregon Project  HELP, DASI, etc.  Start EARLY  Involve all the significant people in the child’s life  Structure  Consistency

Techniques  Basic concepts training  Communication training  Role playing  Planning and rehearsal for big events  Incorporating “safe” sighted peers for role play